Boulder Blind Cafe

All hints of light disappeared as the second curtain dropped behind us. We continued on, at what seemed like an unsafe pace for such conditions.

“Door! Put your left hand up.” was spoken ahead of me.

I put my hand up just in time to feel the side of a wooden door frame as we dodged right.

Through the doorway was a large space filled with the bustling noise of people. We were in a line, 9 of us, including our guide, each one with a hand on the shoulder of the person ahead.

There was a moment of fear as we turned around, letting go of the person ahead, and finding the shoulder of the person behind. Soon we were all seated, and I started exploring. One plate, napkin, fork, spoon, cup, with a straw in it and a lid (good thinking!), a large bowl in the center with weight to it (probably where the food was). 8 of us at a long table, in a room filled with the hum of 80 people getting ready to eat.

Dishing up was an experience, but we all ended up with plenty of food (everything happily piled on top of itself) with a little axillary pile on the napkin for good measure.

I felt alone in a standing-in-crowd-of-people sort of way. The sound of everyone was there, right there, so close, and yet without sight, my mind couldn’t quite believe that there really was a room full of people around me.

We joined hands for a moment, appreciating the uniqueness of our experience. The 8 of us bumbling through the simple tasks of dinner, laughing, giggling, at the silliness mixed with the “holy shit people live like this every day” weight of the moment.

Rick, our blind waiter made his way around effortlessly, showing up periodically with water, dessert, a spoken word. The contrast between his ease in the dark, and me struggling to figure out if my spoon was right side up or not, was startling.

MUSIC by Rosh, and One Eye Glass Broken was poignant, and came right through the ears to the heart in a way music seldom does. We sat in silence, in darkness, without motion, without stimuli of any kind except for the music filling the moment with emotion and power.

Darkness has always held special meaning to me, complete darkness being one of the most powerful experiences available, and so this particular evening blew my mind in ways I’m still discovering. I could tell by the way people looked at each other, at the room, at the world, when the single candle of illumination was brought in, that it was a moving experience for everyone.

Complete darkness is such a rarity in the world, caves, special rooms, abandoned underground complexes, are among the only places one can experience such a thing. I urge you all to take a moment next time the opportunity becomes a possibility, and have a “Moment of Darkness.” It will blow your mind.